


Do You Come Here Often?

by H_W_Star



Category: Blood Bank (Webcomic)
Genre: (again lol), Cute, Easter Egg Hunt, Ellie is adorable, Eric hates socializing, F/M, Gen, Kind of (?) Shell/Eric, Kind of Pain/Ellie, M/M, One-Shot, Other, Pain is very much out of his element, Shell and Eric search for eggs together, Shell is in bunny ears, Sweet, baby Shell and Eric, but they're like 8 so, easter fic, everyone is human, modern day AU, pretty fluffy, though really it's just Pain pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-16
Updated: 2017-04-16
Packaged: 2018-10-19 20:34:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10647570
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/H_W_Star/pseuds/H_W_Star
Summary: (Guys I had no idea what to call this, I couldn't think of any appropriate Easter puns)There's an Easter egg hunt at the community park, and guess who goes.Alternatively known as the Easter fic in which more than one Blood Blank character realizes he's kinda gay. (With lots of fluff and bunny ears thrown in.)





	Do You Come Here Often?

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to another Blood Bank AU fic  
> Written in honor of Blood Bank, Easter, and the adorableness of little Shell in bunny ears.  
> I own none of these characters, all credit goes to Silb.  
> Thanks to all those who stop by for a read, hope you enjoy, and Happy Easter :)

Pain Overlord was uncomfortable.

Well, that might not have been the best term. But he didn’t know how better to describe the feeling of standing next to a tree in the community park which was covered in balloons, ribbons, and flimsy pastel streamers, looking out over a sea of restless children clutching tiny straw baskets, and apparently being the only adult male amongst a crowd of excited mothers wearing sweaters with baby chicks on them and holding their phones out to get pictures. Even better, he was in a very official-looking white suit with a gold trim, and thus probably stuck out like a sore thumb. The only person looking to be having a worse time was a teenage boy with white hair and mismatched eyes glaring out from under a bunny costume much too big for his slight frame.  

The flyer for the “Community Easter Egg Hunt at White Rose Park” had come in the company newsletter, something Pain never really read and that he usually brought home only to throw away. With this one, the intent was no different, yet he had merely deposited it on the table for it to be tossed at a later date, in favor of catching his breath from a particularly exhausting day at work. That had been his mistake. His eight-year-old son had found the pile of brochures and pamphlets and pilfered them (he was going through a paper airplane phase, and no loose sheet was safe). While going through the assorted leaflets he had found the egg hunt flyer, and had come running up to Pain with wide, excited eyes. He had begged to go for the duration of the day. And of the next three. The nonstop pleas eventually compelled Pain to consider his options. He didn’t believe he had anything going on at work that day; the event was taking place on Easter, of course, and normally people don’t have work on Easter, unless they happen to be CEOs of large companies. He had to check his schedule to verify the fact that nothing was going on (half-hoping that there was, so he would have an excuse), but his day was clear. Thus, he had ended up in a park that was decked out in cheap Easter decorations, surrounded by shouting children, and very eager for the event to be over. It hadn’t even started yet.

All the children participating were offered a little headband with bunny ears on them, and this had been Pain’s way of identifying his own child, as Shell had been one of the very few to actually put them on. Most of the others were forced to endure about three to five seconds of embarrassment as their mother made them wear the accessory for a picture, and then the headband ended up shoved in a handbag or flung on the ground. However, someone must have revamped the excitement for the ears, as now several more kids were wearing them. Pain had been scanning the mass of faux-bunnies when someone bumped into him, causing him to slightly collide with the tree he was standing next to.

“Ah, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” Pain detached himself from the bark, and turned to see who the worried voice belonged to. His proximity to the tree turned out to be a good thing, as his knees buckled a little when he was met with almond skin, smooth black hair, and deep brown eyes that were currently widened with concern.

“Are you alright?” The man asked again, arms half-outstretched in case Pain needed help getting up. Straightening his suit jacket, Pain nodded, trying to collect himself before making eye contact again, unsure if his legs could handle it yet. After dusting off the invisible bark chips on his sleeves, he raised his head once more to look at the man in front of him. His soft brown eyes still had a worried look in them, and Pain realized he hadn’t responded to the question yet.

Clearing his throat, he replied, “Yes, I’m fine.” The man gave a sigh of relief, followed by a nervous laugh.

“I guess I got lost in my head again and wasn’t really looking where I was going. That happens sometimes, though it usually doesn’t entail casualties.” The man flashed Pain an embarrassed smile, and once again he was thankful to be leaning against the tree. Pain didn’t really know what to say, and started searching for any way to continue the conversation so as to not just stand there like an idiot, but the man did it for him.

“I assume you’re here for the Easter egg hunt? Well, not you yourself, but your kid?”

Pain nodded. “My son was very enthusiastic about coming, and in the face of his persistence I wasn’t really able to say no.”

This earned him a chuckle from the man, who said, “I get that. Kids can be quite persuasive.”

Surprising himself, Pain continued the conversation by asking, “Was yours the same?”

The man looked at him. “Me? Oh, I actually _am_ here for the egg hunt myself; I have to get myself a pair of those bunny ears, should probably get on that.”

Pain looked at him, dumbfounded, before the man started laughing. “I’m just joking, sorry. My son is here as part of the Easter egg hunt, yes, but I can’t say he was all too excited about it.” The man’s expression turned a little sheepish as he said, “I kind of made him come. I thought he might like it, and I told him it might be a good way to make friends. He didn’t quite agree with me, but he’s here.”  

“Sounds like you have quite the social butterfly.” After the words left his mouth Pain panicked for a second, worried that his sarcasm may have sounded harsh, but to his relief the man laughed and replied with equal sarcasm, “Oh, absolutely.”

 

Shell had last seen his father leaning against a tree a little ways away from the registration table. He was alone, but Shell wasn’t too worried; his father was the antisocial type, and regardless of whether or not he made a friend today he would be fine. Shell decided to focus on making friends of his own. The egg hunt hadn’t started yet, but everyone had been told to find a partner for it so that no one was on their own. Looking around, Shell saw that most of the kids had found a partner and looked to be about ready. Shell figured the hunt would probably start soon, so he quickly scanned the crowd for anyone who seemed to not have a partner yet. His gaze landed on a boy looking to be about his age, with messy black hair and bright blue eyes, which made him stand out. This was unfortunate, as he seemed to be trying to make himself unnoticeable.

Rushing up to the boy, Shell grabbed his hand and said, “You’ll be my partner.” The boy, very clearly taken aback by the straightforward nature of the blonde kid in bunny ears that just appeared in front of him,  didn’t have any time to respond as some woman announced the start of the egg hunt. Basket in hand, Shell turned to the boy. “Let’s go!”

The boy was suddenly being pulled by the arm across the park, and had to watch his feet to keep from tripping. The mass of children began to disperse about the park, spreading in all directions, yet when Shell showed no sign of slowing his pace, the boy decided to speak up.

“Slow down!” he cried, trying to dig his feet into the ground as if he were being pulled by a large dog. “You’ll make us both fall!”

Shell looked back, and slowed to a stop. “Oh, sorry! I’m just really excited to find the eggs.”

The boy looked at him with slight annoyance. “Well, you won’t find any by running around like that.”

Shell didn’t seem to pick up on the boy’s mildly irritated tone. He realized suddenly that he hadn’t introduced himself, and held out his hand. “I’m Shell Overlord.”

The boy decided to ignore both the odd name and the fact that a last name was included in the introduction (in his experience every kid he’d met had just told him their first name), and shook the offered hand. “Eric.”

“Hi, Eric! Let’s go find some eggs.”

“Sure,” Eric replied, and resigned himself to his current fate of being towed around by an energetic blonde kid with the name of something found on a beach.

 

Ellie had been talking with his new acquaintance for a solid five minutes before he realized that he didn’t even know the man’s name. After Ellie had bumped into him, they had just fallen into a conversation and the concept had slipped his mind.

Without really knowing how else to bring it up, he said with a smile, “I’m Ellie, by the way. Sorry I didn’t introduce myself earlier.”

The man blinked, then shook his head. “It’s completely fine. I didn’t introduce myself either. I’m Pain Overlord. Pleasure to meet you.”

It was Ellie’s turn to blink; he had heard that name before. “Overlord? You’re the CEO of that company, right? The one that does all the blood transfusion and blood testing work?”

Pain cleared his throat and nodded. “Yes, that’s my company.”

“That’s incredible. Although, I will have to say it’s strange seeing the CEO of a renowned company at a community Easter egg hunt.”

This made Pain laugh. “Yes, well, I’m not exactly in my element, I’ll grant you that. But my son very much wanted to come, and there was no one else to take him, so here I am.”

Ellie tilted his head sideways. “Did his mother not want to take him?”

“Ah, my wife and I are separated. She hasn’t seen him in years.”

Ellie looked down. “Oh. I’m sorry for asking.”

Pain looked over at him and waved his hand. “Oh, no, trust me, it’s perfectly fine. Don’t feel bad. The marriage itself wasn’t perfect to begin with, and we’re actually both happier this way. My son isn’t bothered by it either.” Speaking of Shell, Pain hadn’t seen him in a while. He gazed out over the scene of scattered children, and eventually caught sight of his son. He was accompanied by another boy, who seemed to be regarding Shell almost warily. Pain couldn’t blame him; his son had a tendency to come on a little strong. He turned his attention back to Ellie.

“That’s good,” he was saying. “I know in some cases separations can be difficult processes, especially if children are involved.” Pain wondered if Ellie might be talking about himself and his own situation, but decided not to ask.

Ellie laughed suddenly. “From what you’ve been saying, your son seems to be the polar opposite of mine.” It was unrelated, but both parents acknowledged the fact with good humor. Thinking of Eric prompted Ellie to search the park for a glimpse of his son, to make sure he hadn’t tried to hide behind a tree or something in order to avoid participation in the egg hunt. After a few moments he recognized the slightly tousled black hair, yet saw it was tagging along with a head of bright blonde hair and bunny ears. (Eric had flat-out refused the ears when offered). The boy his son was with had Eric by the arm and was hauling him around the park in search of eggs. Eric looked slightly exasperated, but Ellie knew his son well enough to see that was just a façade. It seemed Eric was enjoying the blonde boy’s company.

 

Eric had never met anyone as indefatigable in his life. His legs were starting to get tired, and it had only been about ten minutes into the egg hunt. In those minutes, Shell had managed to not only run them around half the park, but also fill up both their baskets. He wondered what would happen once all the sugar from the candy inside the eggs they had found entered the boy’s bloodstream. Shell had just dragged them into a large (and prickly) bush in investigation of a flash of bright green he had seen, when there was an announcement. The same woman who had signaled the start of the hunt informed everyone that hidden somewhere in the park was a golden egg, and that the team who found this egg would automatically win, regardless of how many eggs they had already found. Shell’s eyes were wide and sparkly, and Eric didn’t even have to look at him to know what he was thinking.

“You want to go find that egg, don’t you?” Eric said with an undertone of slight dread. Shell nodded energetically, and Eric inwardly groaned. This meant more running around, but this time, the stakes were higher. He looked at Shell, saw the eagerness in those wide green eyes and that excited smile, and sighed.

“Let’s go.” He couldn’t fight the small smile when Shell hollered “Yes!” and took off, Eric in hand. Two sets of eyes amongst many, one light green and the other bright blue, turned a piercing gaze on the park for even the smallest gleam of gold. The rule was that teams had to stay together and couldn’t split up to cover more ground, but Shell and Eric had a system. Shell searched locations lower to the ground like bushes and rocks, while Eric examined tree branches and stumps. They were always in the same area as each other, just looking at different things.

They passed kids climbing over small boulders and rolling over giant logs, all determined the find the golden egg before anyone else. Eric started to get worried that someone else might actually be successful, and the concern surprised him. He had started the egg hunt not caring whether he found two or ten, not interested in who won or lost. Yet now, he felt a fervent desire to find this silly egg no matter what. Not for himself, he realized, but for the blonde boy in bunny ears next to him whose excitement was infectious.  

The two had made their way to one of the farthest corners of the park that was inside the bounds allowed for the egg hunt. Not many children were even near this little corner, having already passed it, not done so yet, or even just not deeming it worth a look. Shell and Eric decided to explore it, Shell leading the way. Eric was shielding his eyes against the sun when something flashed in the corner of his vision. He turned his head, and found himself looking at a birdbath. It was almost as tall as him, and was two-tiered. It had a deep gray color, and along its bottom, underneath the water, were several stones and pebbles. The bath caught the sun’s light once more and the flash reappeared, coming from the far side of the lower tier. Eric called Shell over from his inspection of some lilacs, and they peered into the birdbath together. They both saw it at the same time; the glint of gold, which they reached for together. Their eyes met at the contact, and with it cradled in both their hands, they lifted the egg up out of the water and stared at it in silence for a moment. Eric broke the atmosphere by dipping his other hand in the water and flicking droplets of water at Shell. The blonde boy laughed and flicked him back, the egg still safe in his other hand. They spent a few seconds splashing each other, until their hair was slightly wet and their clothes were speckled with dark spots of water.

Shell placed the egg gently into Eric’s basket. At the boy’s quizzical look, he said, “You found it; it should go in your basket. Also, you’ll probably keep it safer than I will. You seem good at protecting things.” Eric was confused at the sudden warmth in his cheeks. He coughed, and nodded.

“Sure.”

He let himself be dragged across the park once more, all the way over to the woman who had made the announcement. With a bright smile Shell showed her the egg, and she informed everyone that the golden egg had been found. She did also make sure to mention that the despite this, the egg hunt hadn’t ended and that there were still more eggs to be found for the other teams. She told the boys that they should go show their parents.

Shell turned back to Eric as the woman walked away. Before he could react Eric was tackled into a hug, with Shell saying gleefully, “We did it, Eric! We won!”

Eric laughed. “We did, and that’s great, but could you maybe get off of me? As important as winning this egg hunt is, I personally find oxygen more important.” Shell gave a little embarrassed laugh, and got up, extending a hand to help Eric up as well.

Shell didn’t let go however, and instead said, “My dad’s right over there, let’s go!” Just before he was hauled away once more, Eric followed Shell’s gaze and saw that right next to Shell’s dad was his own, and the two seemed to be engaged in conversation.

 

“Dad! Dad!” A familiar voice cut through their conversation, and Pain looked up to see his son running toward him, bunny ears and all. He was dragging the dark-haired boy behind him, and both carried baskets filled with eggs.

“Shell,” Pain said, kneeling down, “it seems you’ve found some eggs _and_ a friend.” Shell nodded enthusiastically.

“Dad, this is Eric. Eric, this is my dad.” Just as Pain had finished shaking the boy’s hand, Ellie knelt down and ruffled Eric’s hair.

“Hey kid, glad you didn’t go shield yourself behind a rock or something. It looks like you had fun.” Eric mumbled a response, but Pain didn’t catch it as he was staring at Ellie, realizing with slight shock that the boy Shell had been with was his son.

Turning back to Pain, Ellie said, “I didn’t realize this was your son.” He smiled at Shell. “Hi, I’m Ellie, Eric’s dad.” Shell smiled back.

“I’m Shell!”

Ellie laughed. “Nice to meet you, Shell. Did you and Eric have fun?”

“Yea! We found the golden egg.”

“You did? That’s great! Good job.”

Just as Pain was about to say something to Ellie—maybe ask him out to coffee sometime, an exchange of emails perhaps?—someone shouted, “Ellie!” and he turned to see a woman with long pale blonde hair and bright blue eyes coming toward them. Ellie smiled and waved. Pain wondered who she was, but as she came over and Ellie briefly kissed her, that question was answered for him. His heart sunk a little in dismay, then he reprimanded himself. Ellie was a great man, and deserved to be happy. The woman knelt down to kiss Eric on the forehead, then looked up at Pain.

“Pain, this is my wife White. We sort of eloped, so that’s why we don’t have rings, but we intend to fix that soon," Ellie said. The woman smiled and extended a hand, which he shook.

“Pleasure to meet you.”

White turned back to Ellie. “Sorry I’m late, but I got caught up at the office. It’s ridiculous that they have people working on a holiday, but I’m glad I was able to finish it quickly. It looks like Eric had fun, though.” Eric just nodded, which made her laugh.

“No worries,” Ellie said. “Eric and I both made friends.”

“That’s great! Maybe you can get together sometime.”

“My wife apparently thinks I am incapable of setting things up on my own,” Ellie said with a laugh, turning back to Pain. “But she’s right, it would be fun to get the boys together sometime while you and I talk some more. Let me get you my number.” Ellie tore off a piece of paper from the flyer for the egg hunt, grabbed a pen from his pocket, and wrote down his phone number. He handed it to Pain.

“I’d like that,” Pain said as he took the offered paper, gazing at the neatly-written numbers. He watched as his son started talking with Eric again, probably something about paper airplanes, and looked at Ellie, who was smiling at him. Although his chest constricted a bit painfully, it was true; he would like to get together with Ellie and his son again. At least this way, he could spend some time with him and keep this beautiful man he just met in his life.


End file.
